Asset Declaration Must Under Lokpal M
Parliament members will have to declare all assets owned by them and their family members before the multi-member Lokpal to be eligible to sit in the House and vote as a member, according to provisions of the Lokpal Bill which is slated to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The Lokpal shall complain to the Lok Sabha Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman as the case may be, if a member files a false or delayed return. All the returns are to be reported to the Speaker or the Chairman.
Such a return will have to filed within ninety days of a member assuming office, and thereafter every year within ninety days from the commencement of the financial year. The definition of family will include spouse and dependent children.
The other significant aspect of the Bill is that it includes the Prime Minister, ministers, ministers of state, deputy ministers and MPs within the classification of public servants, against whom the Lokpal can investigate corruption charges.
They would be subject to punishment under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
This is the first time that the government has included the Prime Minister in the ambit of an anti corruption law. However, to prevent people from filing frivolous complaints, the Lokpal stipulates a minimum punishment of one year imprisonment extendible up to three years and fine up to Rs 50,000.
The multi-member Lokpal, which will comprise a chairperson and two members, will be appointed by the President on recommendations of a seven-member committee.
The members of the committee will be the Vice-President, Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Union home minister, leader of the House other than the house in which the Prime Minister is a member, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
The Lokpal will conduct an open trial to which general public will have access. However, there will be provision for an in-camera inquiry in exceptional cases. The inquiry will be jointly conducted by the chairperson and other members.
After the conclusion of inquiry, the Lokpal shall communicate its findings to the complainant, the public functionary and the competent authority which is the Lok Sabha in the case of the Prime Minister and members of the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha is the competent authority in the case of Rajya Sabha members. For other members of the council of ministers, the competent authority is the Prime Minister. The Bill stipulates that the competent authority shall communicate to the Lokpal, the action taken or proposed to be taken on its report. This has to reach the Lopal within ninety days of receipt of the report. The statement of objects and reasons says that the bill seeks to "enable the citizen to have recourse to a convenient and effective forum for determination of complaints and thereby save him from pursuing his remedy through the process of courts which may prove expensive or dilatory and may not facilitate in speedy determination."